> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://www.isaacbowen.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://www.isaacbowen.com/2025/10/10/optimizer.md). # optimizer I didn't have a good reason for why people like sorting games (solitaire: competitive single-player sorting. nertz: competitive multiplayer sorting.) and I made what I think I can describe as a category error (and what seems to rhyme with anti-feminism, now that I look at it closely, conflating essentiality with interpreted apparent behavior): I chalked it up to "that's what characterizes people, we just like *sorting*" it seems more useful to say that people like chasing the asymptotic approach of perfect readiness for whatever arrives next from the unknown and, like the evolution of the complexity of any sport, we find innovations in each other's performance ... and/or in just watching how the unknown *arrives*? we optimize by watching each other handling the unknown and competing with *the other*, using competition as structure for optimization, and/or we optimize by studying the unknown and developing active relationship with its arrival-as-process? wait hang on, testing with essentialism as a device, now that it's named and on the table: is this pattern essentially "health"? the homeostatic maintenance of being ready for broad-spectrum anything - what lives in the gap between *that* and health-as-process? ... because whatever's in there feels like it would be useful for being ready for broad-spectrum anything, lol maybe health is what you see from here when you look back over your shoulder *that* idea has industry-level implications (hi from 2025 USA) --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter: ``` GET https://www.isaacbowen.com/2025/10/10/optimizer.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.